Seicento Help Needed

[Lennyj]

Hi

I am a mechanical virgin, but getting fed up throwing money at my garage.

I have a 2002 Fiat Seicento 1.1. It has been flashing the engine light ever since it was serviced. I found the air filter lose and fixed this and the light went off for an hour or so. My garage carried out a test and said it was random misfire. They replaced the plugs and leads - (I think they p[ut them on on the wrong order - a diagram would be useful.) The car continued to show and intermittent flashing engine light and was losing power mainly in third, but all gears.

Today I replaced both coil packs - (pretty pleased with myself). No flashing light as yet, i will take her out for a longer run tonight but there is still a loss of power, this time most notably in fifth. I switched the leads about and back - it runs better as I have it now.

So reading old posts on here, some people are saying O2 sensor, Is this the likely culprit and do you think T could replace this on my own.

I am very new to trying to fix her on my own but she has swallowed a grand in a month and I can't afford to keep paying the mechanics at my garage so all help will be gratefully accepted.

Thanks

 

[rallycinq]

02 car should be MPi (see faqs if that doesn't mean anything to you) and it will have two o2 sensors, so not so easy.

However, did the service include a cam belt change?

Cheers

D

 

[Lennyj]

Hi Thanks for getting back to me,

It has had a new cam belt about 6 month ago but it had an alternator belt replacement as part of the service - it has been since this that I have had all these problems

Lenny

 

[Lennyj]

I have no Idea what MPI is or its relevance to my problem

 

[Lennyj]

Thinking it might be MAP sensor - cheap to replace

Or fuel filter?

It is now making a ticking noise -will recheck everything tomorrow

 

[beyre83]

the reason they asked about the cam belt being changed as they probally suspect as do i that prehaps the timing is off slightly that can be causeing the misfire / loss of power in some gears and as you mention that the problems started happening since you had this changed that is what i would be inclined to suspect...

but i am sure someone with more knowledge of this car will point you in the right direction

 

[fingers99]

it has been since this that I have had all these problems

This would lead me to think that maybe they fooked up the cam timing (which is probably rallycinq's thought).

I have no Idea what MPI is or its relevance to my problem

It'll be clear in the Guides/FAQs, lovingly put together by lots of folk -- see the link at the top of the page. MPI means you've got 4 injectors, rather than one -- Multi Point Injection, rather than Single Point Injection. But you've also got 2 lambda sensors, rather than one.

The fuel filter on MPI cars is not a service item and MPI MAP sensors seldom give problems.

With a combination of the Haynes Punto manual and the Seicento Technical Manual (the latter free in the Downloads section) you'll be able to give your garage the elbow: they're absurdly simple cars to work on.

 

[Pep0]

I have no Idea what MPI is or its relevance to my problem

in your signature line there's guides and FAQ

but letting a garage replace an altenator belt is incautious you could have borrowed an axle stand and done it yourself.

the garage may have damaged the TDC sensor changing the belt this could leave you with intermittent misfits

MPI autos have better diagnostics than SPI autos
multi point injection - fuel rather than single injector

if there is not a guide for alt belt changing without damaging the TDC we need one - im on an android sorry

 

[fingers99]

if there is not a guide for alt belt changing without damaging the TDC we need one - im on an android sorry

Well, it's easy enough -- slacked off the alternator bolts (use an 8mm ball ended allen key with a peice of tube on the short end as an extension) and remove the alternator pulley. Only point of interest is to make sure the little hole in the alternator pulley fits over the pip on the crank pulley when refitting.

 

[rallycinq]

Aye, I was thinking cam timing. worth a check, plus the positioning of the tdc sensor, incase its misplaced/cracked.

Cheers

D

 

[The Black Box]

Whereabouts In the uk are you just incase someone is local that don mind lending a hand

 

[Lennyj]

Thank you guys for all your suggestions and I am going to try some of them - going out now to buy the hays manual but when I say I am a virgin I mean This is the first time I have looked under a hood of a car and it is a scary place.

The timing belt was fine for 6 month after it was replaced, things only started going wonky when I let them at the alternator belt, don't think I can check the timing - a job for the garage, I think. I will check the tdc sensor there today, give it a clean after that I might try and change the O2 sensors next weekend.

I live just outside Milton Keynes if anyone is close and wouldn't mind having a look I would be very grateful.

again thanks for your help and I will let you all know when I start with the sledge hammer

 

[Lennyj]

Fingers crossed - I took the wheel off and checked the TDC sensor and yup. One of the things the garage messed up on the service was that they didn't put the dip stick in properly and I lost almost all of the oil, splashed all over the engine bay.

The sensor was caked in oil and dirt - I have cleaned it and put it back, will test today, may buy a new one if it still plays up - so amazed that I did all this - my neighbors think I will make a mess of it all and end up paying a fortune to get it fixed. Well here's hoping, I'll let you know how it goes and again thanks to you all, I'm sure I will have more questions in the future.

L

 

[Lennyj]

Well that didn't work. Seemed a bit better at first but then as I accelerated onto the motorway, I got the loss of power, high rev noise and flashing engine light.

Then in Fifth I could hardly put any pressure on the pedal before loss of power and high rev noise and the flashing Engine management light came on again once I got it up-to over 80.

Any ideas?

 

[fingers99]

What's this "high rev noise"?

But if the ECU warning light is on, a code read should give us a better clue -- any fool with a code reader should be able to do it. Post the codes here.

 

[Lennyj]

As I press the accelerator the power goes and the engine revs as is in neutral, on the test drive it happened a few times in third and fourth but had to be extremely gentile in fifth as the slightest pressure did this and I had to ease back and start again.

The engine light only flashed on and off it is not on now. :bang:

Thinking of buying two new lambda sensors and replacing them next weekend - what do you think?

 

[fingers99]

I'd say code read first. Should still be in there, but first lanbda is likely suspect.

 

[Ouby]

A cheap hand held (OBD2) code reader won't set you back much.
Unfortunately if its still throwing a P300 code (random misfire) it wont tell you much as that could be caused by many things -but it's still better to check it as Fingers suggested in case any other codes are thrown up.

 

[Lennyj]

Just ordered one from Amazon, will see what the codes bring up.

Thank you for your help

L

 

[jatkinson]

You say the power goes , but still revs ? Clutch slip ??